Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Dec;47(6):470-476.
doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12486. Epub 2019 Jul 21.

Dental caries experience in children of a remote Australian Indigenous community following passive and active preventive interventions

Jeroen Kroon  1 , Ratilal Lalloo  2 , Santhosh K Tadakamadla  1 , Newell W Johnson  1   3   4
Affiliations

Dental caries experience in children of a remote Australian Indigenous community following passive and active preventive interventions

Jeroen Kroon et al. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: To report on changes in dental caries experience in children of a remote Indigenous community following 6 years of passive preventive intervention (PPI) and 2 years of active preventive intervention (API).

Methods: Five consecutive cross-sectional surveys were conducted on 4- to 15-year-old school going children between 2004 and 2017 following phases of Community Water Fluoridation (CWF), post-cessation of CWF and API. Following treatment of any cavities present, API included selective placement of fissure sealants (FS) and an annual application of povidone-iodine (PI) and fluoride varnish (FV). The World Health Organization's (WHO) "Oral Health Surveys - Basic Methods (4th Edition)" methodology was used in the first two and the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS-II) in the latter three surveys. ICDAS-II codes of 3-6, representing advanced caries, were combined to allow comparison to the decayed component of the DMF caries index.

Results: Age-weighted mean dmft decreased by 37.7% in the deciduous (DD) and DMFT by 35% in the permanent (PD) dentitions between the pre- and post-CWF surveys, followed by increases of 25% and 7.7%, respectively, between the 1-year and 4-year post-CWF surveys. After 2 years of API, mean dmft decreased by 14.3% and DMFT by 7.1%. Untreated dental caries however remained a concern in the DD and PD during both phases of PPI and of API. The decline in caries experience for both dentitions following 2 years of API exceeded that for the 6-year period of PPI.

Conclusions: The annual reductions in caries experience of 7.2% (DD) and 8% (PD) during the phase of API exceeded annual decreases of 4.7% (DD) and 4.6% (PD) during the phase of PPI. Due to remoteness, cost and logistics in ensuring long-term viability of API programmes, CWF remains necessary in this type of community.

Keywords: Indigenous people; children; community water fluoridation; dental caries; prevention; remote.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A timeline of surveys and the phases of PPI, post‐cessation of CWF and API between 2004 and 2017
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean dmft and SiC for the phases of PPI, post‐cessation of CWF and API for 4‐ to 12‐y‐olds (DD)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean DMFT and SiC for the phases of PPI, post‐cessation of CWF and API for 5‐ to 15‐y‐olds (PD)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kassebaum NJ, Smith A, Bernabé E, et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence, incidence, and disability‐adjusted life years for oral conditions for 195 countries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. J Dent Res. 2017;96:380‐387. - PMC - PubMed
    1. James SL, Abate D, Abate KH, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017. Lancet. 2018;392:1789‐1858. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ha DH, Roberts‐Thomson KF, Arrow P, Peres KG, Do LG. Children's oral health status in Australia, 2012–14 In: Do LG, Spencer AJ, eds. Oral Health of Australian Children: The National Child Oral Health Study 2012–14. Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press; 2016.
    1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Dental Statistics and Research Unit . The National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004–06. Australian Capital Territory. Cat. no. DEN 175. Dental Statistics and Research Series no. 39. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2008.
    1. Jamieson LM, Elani HW, Mejia GC, et al. Inequalities in indigenous oral health: findings from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. J Dent Res. 2016;95:1375‐1380. - PubMed

Publication types